Harry Potter and the Ghosts of Hogsmeade
by Aurora BoreAlice
Summary: Playing with Time Turners can be dangerous, you never know just how much you can change the past. One bite when they went to rescue Sirius changed everything. Now Hogsmeade will have it's ghosts back. Book Three AU
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I own copies of the books, as well as a Hedwig backpack. But that is where my ownership of the series ends.**

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Chapter 1

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Harry was still thinking about his new-found knowledge of his fathers animagus form. Even his bushy haired friends' exasperated scolding couldn't bring down his happy mood. So, it was with a grain of salt that he listened to her.

"What did you do?" she said fiercely. "You said you were only going to keep a lookout!"

Harry was tempted to just let her yell at him until she got it out her system, but then again, they didn't have that much time and this was the Forbidden Forest. It would be best not to attract too much attention.

"I just saved all our lives…" said Harry. "Get behind this bush-I'll explain." It took a little bit of coaxing to get his temperamental best friend to follow him and quiet down, but soon he was explaining everything.

Hermione listened to what had just happened with her mouth open yet again.

"Did anyone see you?" At her question Harry had to take a moment to breath. Sometimes his friends' need to know every little detail drove him crazy.

"Yes, haven't you been listening? I saw me, but I thought I was-" Harry's excited babbling broke off as the distinct sound of a branch snapping brought him up short. That sounded close, very close. Feeling the blood drain from his face Harry turned to look at the thick bushes to his right as Buckbeak let out an angry hiss. The hippogriffs wings flared behind him in a show of intimidation.

"Hermione," slowly Harry brought up his wand, his eyes scanning the foliage for a glimpse of the whatever was hiding in it, "slowly…get up on Buckbeak. Be careful not to pull his feathers out." A bushy head bobbed once before carefully starting to move around the agitated creature to get to his side.

But it was as she moved that Harry spotted bright amber eyes in the dark, fixed on the slow moving form of his friend. A low growl came from the creature and Harry was moving before he registered the sight of familiar brindle fur and sharp teeth.

A moment before the werewolf, formally known at his DADA professor, plowed him into the ground, Harry thought to himself what a stupid idea it was to run into the path of a monster.

Hermione's scream echoed in his ears as all the air was forced out of him when his chest was all but crushed under a few hundred pounds of snarling werewolf. The thought that he was going to have some impressive bruises by the end of the night flitted across his consciousness before he refocused on trying to breath again. Suddenly the weight was lifted from him and he lay there numbly, trying to fill his lungs with oxygen.

It felt like a lifetime before he could breath again, whilst in realty it was only a few seconds. He tried to sit up, taking in big gulps of air and coughing. He was just in time to see the end of the fight between werewolf and hippogriff, in which the wolf growled, but made no second attempt at the prey behind the bird-horse creature. He slunk off deeper into the woods to find easier prey.

Sitting up fully now Harry winced. Everything ached, "I'll be feeling that tomorrow," he muttered to himself as feeling began to come back to his bruised limbs. A moment later he wished he was still numb, as Hermione attacked him with a hug.

Harry hissed in pain as the hysterically crying girl clung to his school robes. He awkwardly patted her back with his right hand, letting her cry for a moment on his shoulder. "Come on now, Hermione," he sighed, "It's okay."

But this was, apparently, the wrong thing to say as she abruptly leaned back and began to berate him.

"No, it is not bloody well 'okay' Harry James Potter!" Just to prove her point she hit his vulnerable left shoulder making him yelp from the pain. "You could have been hurt" She continued, " You could have... You could have…" her anger died down as she stared at her now blood covered fist, her wide eyed gaze traveled up to his shoulder.

Harry was pale after the hit and trying not to curse the air blue as he held his arm just under the shoulder. Now, it was easier to see the wet stain that covered the part of his clothes over his shoulder.

Harry weakly gasped at his friend, "Bloody hell 'Mione! If this is how you say 'thanks' remind me not to save your life next time!"

Still grumbling, he inspected the blood in his clothes with a grimace, so much for escaping Madam Pomfrey's notice when they got back. By the looks of things it was a pretty nasty cut. Broken out of her shock the witch scooted closer and made to pull his robes off to get a look at the wound.

"Harry! We need to get that taken care of right away!"

He shrugged her off and started to stand up, "No, we'll take care of it later, we don't have time." He hushed her protests with a hand, wincing a little in pain, he crept forward to get another look at where they'd been passed out on the shore earlier. From there they watched as Snape showed up and conjured stretchers for all of them before taking them to the castle.

Hermione didn't look very pleased but nodded, "Right, it's nearly time, we've got fourty-five minutes until Dumbledore locks the hospital wing. We've got to save Sirius and get back to the ward before anybody realizes we're missing…" She took a deep breath in and turned back to Harry with a determined face, "Please let me bandage it for you! You'll be dizzy with blood loss otherwise- and I am not flying on a hippogriff by myself!"

Harry had to laugh a little at that, he nodded and shrugged off his robes from his injured shoulder. It probably would be a bad idea to let Hermione ride Buckbeak alone. His skin, now exposed, was covered in caked on blood that oozed sluggishly from several cuts across his shoulder.

They didn't look too deep so the witch just shook her head and pulled out her wand, "Honestly Harry, only you could get such a wound and not die from it! Infula vocata." With a flick of her wrist bandages sprang out of nowhere to wrap themselves around his shoulder, covering the cuts completely and stopping the bleeding for now. "We'll just have to tell Madam Pomfrey that we forgot to tell her about the wound before."

First aid taken care of they went back to silently watching the grounds for any sign of when they should move.

"D' you reckon he's up there yet?" said Harry, checking his watch. He looked up at the castle and began counting the windows to the right of the West Tower.

"Look!" Hermione whispered. "Who's that? Someone's coming back out of the castle!" Harry looked and the glint of something metal on the man's belt gave him away.

"Macnair!" said Harry. "The executioner! He's gone to get the dementors! This is it, Hermione-"

* * *

One terrifying flight later, for Hermione at least, and they were rapping on the window of Sirius' makeshift prison. The gaunt man ran to the window and after cutting off his questions they unlocked the window. The thin man slipped out quickly and they closed and locked it again to buy some time.

As soon as they were safely landed on the West Tower's battlements Harry and Hermione slid off Buckbeak.

"Sirius, you'd better go quick," Harry panted. He blinked a few times to stop the dizziness he was having from blood loss. "They'll reach Flitwick's office any moment , they'll find out you're gone."

Buckbeak pawed the ground, tossing his sharp head. He was ready to take off again but the man astride his back hesitated, "What happened to the other boy? Ron?" croaked Sirius.

"He's going to be okay. He's still out of it, but Madam Pomfrey says she'll be able to make him better. Quick-go-" But Black was still staring down at Harry.

"How can I ever thank-"

"GO!" Harry and Hermione shouted together, Harry throwing up his hands in frustration.

Black wheeled Buckbeak around, facing the open sky.

"We'll see each other again," he said, glancing back one last time, "You are-truly your fathers son, Harry…" With that he kicked his heels gently into the hippogriffs sides and together they took off into the night sky. The two slowly faded into the distance, getting smaller and smaller with each passing second…..until as a cloud covered the full moon they disappeared completely from view…somewhere in the forest a mournful howling could be heard.

Harry would have been content to just sit and stare in the the darkness but luckily Hermione was there to tug at his robe sleeve and get him moving with a reminder of how little time they had left to get to the Hospital Wing.

* * *

A near miss with Peeves later and they were panting heavily from the run as they came around the corner in time to hear Dumbledore instructing them on how many turns they should use. He turned and a wide smile lifted his silver mustache. "Well?" He listened to their exclamations of success with a twinkle in his eye before locking them in, again. With matching grins they snuck back to their beds as Ron snored softly. It was just in time as not a moment later the mediwitch came striding out of her office like a thundercloud.

"Did I hear the headmaster leaving? Am I allowed to look after my patients-good heavens!" Now that she was closer she could see the dried blood that covered the boy's shoulder and was wondering just how she'd missed that not five minutes ago. Quickly running to his bedside she pulled out her wand.

"Mister Potter!" she shrieked as she made him sat back more comfortably on the bed, "What in heavens name happened?"

Harry hissed a little in pain as she began to magically cut the robes and shirt under it away from him. She paused a moment seeing the bandages but cut those off as well. Casting a glance at Hermione, who was keeping out of the way and obediently eating the chocolate provided for her, he tried to come up with something believable quickly.

"Ouch! Sorry Madam Pomfrey…I meant to tell you sooner but then the Minister-" he cut off to bite his lip as the last bit of bandage was peeled away, exposing the sensitive and raw skin to the air.

At the reminder of the men who'd been obstructing her attempts at healing her patients the witch's normally kind eyes turned steely. "Never you mind." she reassured him as she began to inspect the blood caked wound gently, "Honestly, men can't even give me a moment to get you lot set up before they come barging in upsetting you! Now, how did this happen?" To her trained eye she could spot at least four entry wounds in a half circle around the boy's shoulder.

The sudden swing from angry rant to medical questions made Harry blink a little in surprise and it took his brain a moment to catch up. "Er…when Professor Lupin transformed…he went to jump at Hermione. So I ..er…sort of jumped between them…"

At the mention of her colleague the mediwitch froze, and before he'd even finished explaining she stepped in Hermione's line of sight and began casting a few scourgify spells to see the wound better. "Eyes forward please Mister Potter." she admonished him as he turned to look at the damage himself. He snapped his gaze forward immediately.

She poked at the wound for a moment with her wand, muttering under her breath so quietly that he couldn't make out what she was saying. "Mister Potter, if you would please follow me, I've left the ointment I need in my office."

Putting a steadying hand on his back she led him out of the common room and towards her office. Harry cast Hermione a confused look, which she returned, before he was out of sight.

Her office was much like the Hospital wing, clean and well organized. There was a spare bed in addition to her desk nearby for patients and it was to this she took him. She shut the door with a flick of her wand and in the same movement summoned a jar of vile smelling ointment from the shelves on the west side of the room.

"Try to hold, still, this'll sting a bit." she warned him before applying the salve. Sure enough as soon as it touched his skin Harry yelped and jumped, but a stern look and he was sitting quietly under her not so gentle ministrations.

Wounds cleaned and covered with medicine, she began to wrap his shoulder, starting around the arm. By now Harry was more than a little confused and very nervous. He knew, from much experience, just how skilled the witch was with her craft. She could heal broken bones in a moment, and close open wounds in a breath; so then why was she not doing that now? Why was she only bandaging his shoulder?

She worked in relative silence and he was didn't to disturb her. But all too soon she finished and took a seat next to him on the bed with a sigh. Harry could feel the hairs on the back of his neck stick up in apprehension for what she might say.

When she didn't say anything for a little while he shifted nervously and ventured a timid, "Madam Pomfrey?" Then she turned to him, eyes solemn.

"I'm sorry Mister Potter, I can't heal those cuts. Cursed wounds are resistant to magical healing." Harry felt his face freeze into a mask of shocked disbelief, he must have heard wrong. Poppy looked like she wanted to say more but was interrupted when an enraged scream sounded above them.

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**A/N: Hello and welcome to Harry Potter and the Ghosts of Hogsmeade!**

**A big thank you to Shona-Ann for taking my mess of scribbled ideas and grammar mistakes, and transforming them into an understandable story.**

**Another thanks to Unique .F for your tips and ideas!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: -checks- Nope, I still don't own it. However, my agent should be delivering the proposal to Madam Rowling in a few hours time.**

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Chapter 2

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They waited a moment, and sure enough the shouting started to come closer to their wing. "Really! They'll wake everybody up! You," she turned to look down at Harry, who still looked like he was going into shock, "will stay right here." He merely nodded and Madam Pomfrey felt inspired to send whoever they were on their way very quickly.

From out in the hall the voices became clear enough to understand. "He must have disapparated, Severus. We should have left somebody in the room with him. When this gets out-"

"HE DIDN'T DIAPPARATE!" Snape roared as the group came close to the doors. Madam Pomfrey left the office in a rush to head them off, conveniently leaving the office door open to keep an eye on her patient inside. "YOU CAN'T APPARATE OR DISAPPARATE INSIDE THIS CASTLE! THIS-HAS-SOMETHING-TO-DO-WITH-POTTER!"

"Severus - be reasonable - Harry has been locked up-" Dumbledores' calm tones began, trying to stop the enraged man. The doors swung open with a bang, hitting off the walls and coming back to almost hit the Minister in the face. The three men entered, and though Dumbledore seemed to be secretly enjoying the show his smile did slip a little when he didn't see Harry immediately upon entering the room. His searching eyes found Poppy, then behind the witch her office with the boy sitting there.

But it seemed the lack of the boy also derailed the potions master for a moment as his dark gaze swept across the room. "POTTER!" he roared, looking more than a little deranged.

"Professor Snape!" shrieked Madam Pomfrey. "Control yourself!" This however only brought his searching eye towards her and he saw the boy behind her in her private office. Sweeping forward like a snarling bat he roared, "THEY HELPED HIM ESCAPE, I KNOW IT!" Fudge started after him to try and talk some sense into the man.

But his help was unnecessary as the stout mediwitch moved forward with her wand drawn. "MISTER SNAPE!" He blanched even more pale if it was possible, and froze in spot. For even the fearsome potions master knew better than to face off against Madam Pomfrey. He'd also been a student under her care once and had learned a certain fear of her temper. She paused with her wand resting at the base of his throat and turned to the headmaster with narrowed eyes, "Headmaster if you would kindly remove yourself and the minister from my infermary!"

"Of course my dear Poppy. Come along Minister, I think it best if we leave." The portly man nodded only once, also watching the witch with apprehension, "Quite right Dumbledore, I need to go and notify the Ministry…dreadful business this whole debacle…." Dumbledore ushered him out with a concerned look back at his two staff members still locked in a glaring contest. With luck he'd return to find them both alive.

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When the door was closed and the voices of the two men were long gone Madam Pomfrey lowered her wand and gestured for Snape to follow her to an unoccupied corner of the room. He did so reluctantly and voiced that reluctance loudly, "Poppy, that boy has just aided in the escape of a dangerous criminal! Why you insist on protecting him-"

She hushed him quickly and lowered her voice, aware of the curious girl trying to listen in a few beds down, "Severus, there is something far more important that needs to be done right now." An elegant eyebrow raised at that incredulously but something in her voice stopped his caustic remake before he voiced it. "Tell me Severus," she began gently, "when Remus transformed…did you see what happened?"

Irritated, he shook his head, "Unlikely, as I was unconscious at the time, thanks to Potter and his friends…" he eyed her speculatively, "Why?"

"Severus," she began watching his face for his reaction, "Mister Potter was bitten."

Given the mans' dislike for the boy she'd expected a different reaction. However she needed to talk to someone about what to do and the headmaster would be indisposed for a few more hours at least. But she wasn't prepared to see his black eyes widen in disbelief and something like sadness cross his face. "…it can't be…" he muttered to himself before whirling away and all but running to her office with Poppy close behind.

He stopped just inside the door and felt his breath catch in panic. The boy looked so small to him, sitting on the bed and staring off towards the wall looking lost. Those haunting green eyes were glazed over in shock and he couldn't help the feeling of crushing guilt that he had failed.

Snape was barely aware of Pomfrey moving him into the room further so that she could close the door and cast a silencing charm.

"But…it's not possible." His eyes found hers, trying to deny the reality of what was in front of them. "He was not bleeding at all when I brought them back to the castle! He couldn't have been bitten!" Harry flinched a little and Snape shut his mouth quickly. Poppy laid a comforting hand on his arm and spoke softly, "One of the children conjured bandages before you'd come to and wrapped the bite." She cast a glance at the boy who was now resolutely staring a hole through the floor.

Snape could only bring a hand up to cover his mouth and stare at the boy. With a sigh the mediwitch made him sit in one of the chairs before conjuring a cup of tea to give him something to hold onto. Confident that he knew well enough to stay quiet she turned back to her patient and took a seat again on the bed. Harry flinched a little but at least he was looking at her now, and not internalizing everything. He surprised her by being the first one to speak.

"Madam Pomfrey…am I a werewolf?" Poppy sighed a little, remembering years ago when another young boy had sat in her office and cried from the after transformation pain while she held him to her shoulder. "Yes, Mister Potter, I'm afraid the bite is indeed infected."

"Okay," he said softly, looking back down at the sheets. After a moment he looked up again, a little fearful, "Am I going to…transform..tonight?" His tight grip on the sheets around him belied his more casual tone and she was quick to reassure him, "No, Harry. It will take a month for the curse to set in, nothing will noticeably change until two weeks before then." His shoulders relaxed a little at that. At least he would have a month to prepare himself. He let out a breath and forced himself to relax a bit.

But now that he'd calmed down he had to wonder why Snape, of all people, was still in the room. He watched the man stare into his cooling tea for a moment and was confused at the display of emotions he saw in the normally stoic face.

When Snape suddenly stood and swept out of the room everyone but Harry, in and outside the office, jumped, having forgotten that he was still in there. Hermione watched him leave quietly and turned back to Ron, who had been just coming around. Both of the children watched the office door curiously, but got no answers from the silent room.

* * *

Harry sighed a little and Pomfrey was proud to see the stubborn set of his chin, "Well, I guess that's that. Nothing can really be done about it, right?" She nodded and hesitantly put an arm around his shoulders. The boy tensed, but then relaxed a little into her side, unused to being offered comfort so freely. This was not lost on the mediwitch, and the first stirrings of curiosity about The-Boy-Who-Lived's home life began. He took in a deep breath then went to stand up from the bed making her fluster, "Mister Potter! You should not be moving about right now!"

He smiled a little at her lecturing tone and shook his head, "I'll rest, promise, Madam Pomfrey. I just…I just would rather be out there with my friends." This calmed her considerably and she nodded, "Of course, you needn't stay in here. Come along."

He gave her a grateful smile and slowly stood and walked to the door. Once she couldn't see his face any more the small smile melted off and he was left with a slightly blank stare as he trudged to his bed by Hermione and took a seat.

Catching his friends eyes he gave them a smile as well, this one a little less forced since he saw that Ron was up again. But he didn't have to hold it for too long since Madam Pomfrey turned her attention on them, forcing more chocolate on them and making sure the hex hadn't done any lasting damage to Ron.

By the time she was done it was getting close to midnight. With a stern admonition to them all that they should go to sleep She doused the lights and went to her own chambers by her office to catch a few hours of sleep.

* * *

As soon as it sounded like she was asleep, Hermione and Ron sat back up and looked towards Harry's bed. About an hour before he'd simply gotten under the covers, turned away from them, and pretended to go to sleep.

Hermione was chewing on her bottom lip, brow creased in thought. Ever since Harry had been pulled into the other room away from them she'd felt a lead weight in the pit of her stomach and couldn't help the worry that began to build. It hadn't gotten any better when Snape had run out of the office without saying a word. Everything that had happened that night replayed in her head, and the only likely cause for it all made her pale in fear.

"Ron," she whispered, trying not to wake their friend, "something happened while you were asleep."

The red head snorted loudly, then ducked his head at her scowl and motion to keep quiet, and whispered back, "No duh, Hermione. You two ran off to save the day without me!"

Hermione was about to retort when Harry shifted slightly at the noise. Both of the children froze for a while until they thought he was asleep again. Hermione tossed back her covers and took a seat on Ron's bed, careful not to jostle his still sore leg.

"Ronald, we didn't have time to wait for you to wake up. We needed to get Sirius away before the Dementors kissed him!" In hushed tones she explained what had happened the last few hours. All the while Harry stared into the dark of the room and listened.

He knew how smart his friend was; it was only a matter of time before she reasoned out why all the adults had been acting so strangely around him. But he knew he had a choice. He could 'wake up' and stop her telling Ron, he could tell them both himself before she figured it out, or he could just keep pretending to sleep.

He battled with the choice right up until Hermione got to the part about Lupin attacking them again, and knew he'd already made his choice. He couldn't do it. He couldn't face the pity in her eyes, or the horror in Ron's. He knew they'd never abandon him with this…but it was too painful to face their reactions right now. His entire life had just changed in the space of a few hours, and he just wanted to run from it a little bit longer. All in all, he was just exhausted.

So it was with tears silently wetting the pillow under his head that he listened.

"-Then when we got back here, and you were still asleep, everyone started acting weird. Madam Pomfrey pulled Harry into there office for the longest time and then when Professor Snape came he-he didn't even say anything. Just ran out of here." Hermione stopped then and took in a deep breathe. Ron was watching her face with rapt attention as it fell and she started to cry quietly, sobs shaking her shoulders. Awkwardly he reached out and rested a hand on her shoulder, not sure how to calm her down, "Er…it's okay, Hermione. You guys did it! Yeah, Harry got banged up a bit, but Black is free and you both made it back!"

Ron was shocked when this didn't cheer her up, in fact it had the opposite effect as she cried harder while trying to stay quiet, "Don't you see, Ron?" she choked out, "It's all my fault! He was trying to protect me and got himself bi- oh Ron!" The boy let out a muffled yelp as she brushed against his leg when she threw her arms around him to cry into his night shirt.

"I-I hoped that m-maybe it was just the claws or-or something on the ground b-but…." she shook her head, "It's all my fault that he was bitten! It's all my fault that he's a- a werewolf!"

Ron gaped at her then turned to look at the sleeping form of his best friend. He could't believe it, Harry was bitten? He felt a surge of fear course through him as he remembered earlier that night when Lupin had transformed. That was going to happen to Harry? His best mate was a monster?

In shock all he could do was pat Hermione's back until she calmed down enough to sit back again. "I'm sorry…" she whispered miserably.

Ron just shook his head, "Don't worry about it Hermione. He'll be okay. We should go to sleep." He still sounded dazed, they all had a lot to think about tonight. The girl nodded, and with a last hug for her friend found her way back to her own bed to cry a little longer until she fell asleep.

They all lay awake for a long time that night, each dealing with the news in their own way, until exhaustion claimed them all.

Before he finally fell asleep, Harry looked out the window at the full silvery moon that had begun to wane, and wondered how it would look to him in a month from now when he was under it's spell as well.

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**A/N's: Hello, Alice here! Once again, thank you for reading! Please leave all comments, reactions, thoughts and left over popcorn in the box below, then be on your way!**

**Once again a big thanks to Shona-Ann for your help!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: "I dreamed I was buying new shoes last night," said Ron. "What d'ya think that's gonna mean?" "Probably that you're going to be eaten by a giant marshmallow or something," said Harry." I dreamed I owned Harry Potter and lived in England. Probably means I'll get bitten by a horse today or something... **

Chapter 3

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Waking up after a full moon was never a pleasant experience. It was even less so when you hadn't had a clear mind from wolfsbane potion. Remus just let himself lay still for a while longer as he came to himself and tried to take stock of what was injured.

A slight groan slipped out as he moved and exhausted muscles protested loudly. It felt like he'd been running most of the night, which was very likely. Moving slowly he got into a kneeling position and ran his hands over his face and through his hair to bring him a little closer to rational thought. Remus tried to ignore the uncomfortable way sticks and mud was sticking to his bare skin, and was just glad he seemed to have woken up somewhere in the Forbidden Forest, away from prying student eyes.

He licked his lips, confused for a moment at the coppery bitter taste in his mouth, before it all came back.

Blood. There was blood around his mouth and down his chin. Dried blood. Human blood. He froze, eyes wide, "No….the children!"

That brought him fully awake and, as well as he could at the moment, jumped to his feet and started looking around, terrified of what he might see.

A deep voice spoke behind him, at the same time managing to sound bored and furious, "I have no desire to see more of you than I have need to, Lupin. Please clothe yourself before you turn around."

Remus jumped at the tone, but only turned enough to see behind him as his fellow teacher, Severus Snape, levitated a pile of clothes over to him. The dark man was studiously looking up towards the canopy of the trees and directing the pile with deft flicks of his wand.

Remus took them out of the air with a shaking arm and nodded his thanks. He dressed quickly before walking purposefully over to Snape, a manic gleam in his eyes.

"Severus, I have no memory of last night, did I…did I hurt anyone?" He paled at the very idea of having killed one of those three children or his friend Sirius, and had to support himself against the tree Snape had chosen to stand under. Remus braced himself for bad news, he knew first hand how dangerous Lycanthropes were. He'd been a fool thinking that he was any different than the monster that had bitten him.

Dull black eyes considered his state before answering. "You did not kill any of the students." Remus let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding and sagged against the tree.

"Severus…thank-thank god-" he began, face lighting up a little.

But his hopes were most effectively dashed the next moment when the surly potions master interrupted him with a bitter remark.

"However, you may well wish that you had managed to kill them last night."

Remus' eyes began to fill as he saw the awful truth reflected in the surprising sight of unbridle fury in those black eyes. Unashamed he let the tears run down his cheeks as he sank back down to the ground, and wished he could just curl up there and then, and disappear.

"No." The horror in that one word conveyed his feeling more accurately than anything longer ever could. He'd sworn, damn it, sworn! That this was one thing he would never do! Of course he knew it was a risk of him simply existing, but he'd sworn that he would never allow it to happen.

Slowly his hands came up with cover his mouth and the tears continued to pour over his cheeks and pool around his hands. Snape, in a surprising show of self restraint, didn't start taunting the other man about it yet. However neither was he patient enough to allow the man a moment to grieve properly.

With a long suffering sigh he leaned down and forcefully yanked Remus to his feet, taking advantage of the werewolf's diminished strength. Keeping his hand fisted in the shabby brown robes Snape leaned in close and allowed to show, for just a moment, all the anger in his face.

"I admit, I had entertained thoughts of exposing your…disability, before the students this morning. However, if I should chose to do so it would also implicate the boy." That caught Resmus' attention. That narrowed it down to either Ron or Harry. "So it is with some regret that I will keep my silence for the time being." He released his hold then and shoved Remus away from him in disgust. Which, Remus thought, was less than he deserved.

When the greying man said nothing Snape only sneered and began walking back the way he'd come.

"If you have a shred of humanity left, you will go and see about cleaning up your mess." Lupin winced at the barbed comment, but hurried after the dark man. When he drew almost parallel with Snape his wand was held out to him, and he took it without comment.

* * *

The trip was a somber one as neither party seemed likely to begin speaking, and it was with relief that Remus saw the edge of the forest. He thought to ask if the children were in the Hospital Wing, but an icy glare made him close his mouth right away.

A short trip upstairs later and they were almost to the double doors leading to Madam Pomfrey's domain. Getting his voice back Remus rasped out, "…what do we say to him Severus?" His head was bowed, and his shoulders hunched as he stepped closer to his worst nightmare. At this point they were only a few feet from the door.

Abruptly the potions master came to a stop and his famous sneer was leveled at the werewolf. "We? Just what gave you reason to believe I would be assisting you with this?"

Remus blinked in surprise, "But then, why walk all the way up here with me?"

This question seemed to catch Snape a little off guard as he blinked, but then the scowl darkened even more and his hand lashed out to catch Remus on the scruff of his neck, much in the same way Snape would do with the Weasley Twins.

Though it would have usually been laughably easy for him to duck the hand now holding him tightly by the neck, Remus was utterly drained from his night in the forest and in no fit state to struggle away, a fact that Snape took great pleasure in exploiting.

"Must I personally rub your nose in this mess for you to learn the lesson?" With the DADA professor stumbling along Snape hauled him to the door, and threw him through them.

"Severus!" Remus whirled around to grab for the doors and gaped as he heard them lock from the outside. Growling deep in his throat Remus was set to whip out his wand and curse the man three ways from next Tuesday when a polite cough brought his attention to the other occupants of the room.

He froze with one hand on the door nob, stomach sinking as he realized that if they hadn't been awake before, they most assuredly were now. With a deep breathe to steady his nerves Lupin slowly let go of the doorknob and turned around to face his students.

His eyes scanned them over quickly before locking on Harry's emerald green eyes. He didn't need to see the pad of gauze and bandages covering the boys' should to know who he'd bitten. He could see it in his eyes.

* * *

** A/N's: Thanks for reading again! Reviews will be donated either towards the Buy Snape A Kitten Fund, or the Get That Werewolf A Sammich' Fund. Please specify in your review which you'd like to donate to, thank you.**

**Oh and also How The Weasley Twins Saved The World should be posted in the next few days.**


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